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Okay to backtrack a bit to the campaign for president and the election of Barrack Obama in regards to the "race card" issue...

I admit I may be slightly more conservative though more in agreement with Libertarians naturally, and beyond that admittedly with Republicans more frequently than with Democrats. That doesn't necessarily make me entirely pleased with the current Republican party, but that is a topic to be covered later in another post as it is a large enough topic for discussion all on its own.

But back to Obama... I agree there is indefinite significance to his election as it does signify the end of an era of racism in the United States. This is a great and fantastic milestone! I do not disagree with this at all. However, I am concerned with some of the reasoning behind some of the votes he received.

I had the opportunity to go to the Democratic Poll Party for the Quad Cities, and even though I am typically in disagreement with Democrats for the most part, it was worth getting involved in for the experience. This was due to a personal connection who is an active democrat and whose family is friends with Iowa House Rep. Jim Lykam. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to see inside things even at this minor level stating off with my political education, and I hope that this post will not come off as any disrespect or lack of appreciation either.

While I was there and it came down to Obama winning the election as you would expect there was cheering, smiles, and lots of expression in happiness for the results. There was not even ten feet away from me a upper middle-aged African-American women belted out, "We made history baby! We made history!" I found myself entirely shocked by this.

I am still fairly young as an adult and had not been alive during Martin Luther King Jr's time. Yes, I missed that time period and its discriminations so I admit I might not be aware of everything, but I do understand this event's significance. But why would this be the first thing to come from one's mouth? This is almost appalling. Look at those words... The history to be made here is that fact that he is the first African-American president. This is what she is most happy about. This is evident because it was the first thing she wanted to say to everyone around. But why when making value decisions based on skin-color is the exact type of thing that MLKJ preached against?

The news in various places had brought up the topic of Obama getting votes due to this and a lot of objection to this kind of claim was made. I don't think that this is any kind of majority view, but I do not have any doubts at all that this is fact now.

I find myself somewhat disheartened to see that this reverse racism occurs. To vote him on his color over another and not because of policy or cabinet? This is sick step backwards in my opinion. This in itself discredits the value of this historical event; this shouldn't be acceptable. I admit I didn't say anything because I was a guest in someone else's house - per say. But no one else said anything either.

Race should never be the core value for any vote. That does not promote the equality or fairness that this country is supposed to hold true! I had my doubts with Oprah Winfrey as well. A person who didn't express interest in politics until this point, and with this occurrence I find it even harder to believe that Obama's color wasn't the prime issue for her support in him anymore. Another personal example is from my mother, who told me she has a co-worker who said to her specifically that the significance of this event was the soul reason she voted for him. Two evident occurrences of this over two peoples networks is by far a large number, but still...

This is a scary thing in these already scary times. I don't know... I still find myself in shock and in disgust with this. I hope that this isn't going to be a precursor for us walking backwards anymore than this. I hold confidence in this country and will continue to believe otherwise. Unfortunately, I do find myself a little doubted and hope that this was only a single hiccup of human nature.

These are pressing times and we cannot afford to be taking any steps backwards.

This entry was posted
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I think it's an honest post and you should be commended for that. For myself, when I write, I view the act of writing as surgeons might view their obligation in the ER. I want to remove my emotional appeals from what I do. I what to remain distant enough that I'm not attached to the piece I write other than through an exposition of some idea. If I were to place myself in your shoes at that moment that comment would have jarred me too, and I too would have had mixed emotions about the claim also. So your posting is a very "real" post insofar as you have shared your feeling on a personal experience. But I think you can always step back, away from the experience, though it's your experience and analyze it methodically. There was some justification she had for the statement she made and you have shared your bewilderment with the blogosphere but the distance between you and her isn't any closer. I'm assuming you guys never spoke on the issue which was unfortunate. It presented an opportunity for you to share a concern, certainly you expose yourself to abuse by doing so but you also expose yourself to the beauty of humanity. She might have told you and interesting story and you might have enlightened her about your struggle as a white male with her comment, which was certainly justified, but that opportunity was lost. The problem with most of us, and hopefully you can see this is that we usually speak past each other rather than listening and understanding the plight of the other person. And yes even white dudes have struggles :-) Though I think black dudes have their fair share of struggles too :-) I can't justify her position but I can use this opportunity to encourage you to seize the moment and make new opportunities. As someone new to political research and polisci, I would encourage you to approach your craft with a respectable distance. That's my 2 cents. Thanks for sharing the post. Peace. Jason.

Yes this post was meant to be very honest. Most of my posts are meant to have a less personal educational point of view, but occasionally I do want to do a post here or there that shows people myself more as a human. And I also have to agree that not talking to her was a bit disappointing. But like I said I was a guest under another individual, and I did not want to pose any situation that may possibly create embarrassment for the individual that invited me. This is why I remained reserved. Thank you for the comment.

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Hello I'm Nathan Wallace. I am currently in school as a Political Science major, I am married, have three children and work in loss prevention. I like to blog with the little spare time that I have. In my educational efforts I am working through to my Masters, and then Doctorate in Economics.